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When people think about Home Assistant dashboards, they usually think about tablets mounted to walls.
And while tablets are flexible, they're not always the best solution. They're constantly powered on, can be difficult to read in bright environments, and often end up displaying far more information than you actually need.
This is one reason e-paper displays have become increasingly popular among Home Assistant enthusiasts.
Unlike traditional screens, e-paper displays consume very little power, remain visible without a backlight, and feel more like dedicated information panels than another device competing for your attention. They're perfect for displaying information that changes throughout the day, such as weather forecasts, calendar events, energy usage, or the status of your smart home.
In this guide, we'll explore why e-paper works so well with Home Assistant and look at some of the best e-paper displays for building dashboards that stay visible 24/7.
Why use an e-paper display for Home Assistant?
Home Assistant gives you access to a huge amount of data. The challenge isn't collecting information. It's displaying that information in a way that's useful.
Many smart home dashboards only need to update every few minutes. Weather forecasts, energy usage, room temperatures, calendar events, and air quality measurements don't change every second.
Because of this, e-paper displays are often a natural fit.
Always visible
Unlike tablets, e-paper displays remain readable even when they aren't actively refreshing.
You can glance at the display from across the room and immediately see the information you need.
Extremely low power consumption
E-paper only consumes significant power when the screen updates.
For dashboards that update every few minutes or hours, this can dramatically reduce energy consumption compared to traditional displays.
Excellent readability
Bright sunlight can make many screens difficult to read.
E-paper displays behave more like printed paper, making them easy to view in kitchens, offices, living rooms, and hallways.
Purpose-built information displays
A tablet can display almost anything.
An e-paper dashboard displays only what matters.
That simplicity is often exactly what makes it useful.
E-paper vs tablets for Home Assistant dashboards
Many Home Assistant users start with a tablet because it's familiar and easy to set up.
However, e-paper offers several advantages for dedicated information displays.
|
Feature |
Tablet |
E-paper display |
|
Power consumption |
Higher |
Very low |
|
Readability in sunlight |
Moderate |
Excellent |
|
Always-on visibility |
Good |
Excellent |
|
Video and animations |
Excellent |
Limited |
|
Dashboard refresh speed |
Instant |
Slower |
|
Battery life |
Hours or days |
Days, weeks, or longer |
|
Best for |
Interactive dashboards |
Information displays |
The choice often comes down to how you plan to use the dashboard.
If you need touch controls and fast interactions, a tablet is usually the better option.
If you want a dedicated display that quietly presents useful information all day, e-paper is difficult to beat.
Best e-paper displays for Home Assistant
Not every Home Assistant dashboard needs the same type of display.
A wall-mounted family dashboard has very different requirements from a room status panel or an energy monitoring display. Before choosing hardware, it's worth thinking about what information you want to show, where the display will live, and how often the data needs to update.
The good news is that e-paper displays are available in several sizes and formats, making it possible to build everything from compact room indicators to large household information centers.
Inkplate 10: best for a central Home Assistant dashboard
Product highlight:
If you're building a dashboard that the entire household will use, the Inkplate 10 is probably the first display I'd consider.
The larger screen gives you enough space to display multiple types of information without everything feeling cramped. Instead of choosing between weather, calendar events, energy consumption, and device status, you can comfortably show all of them on a single dashboard.
Typical use cases include:
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Family command centers
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Kitchen dashboards
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Home office displays
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Energy monitoring panels
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Smart home status boards
The larger format also makes the display easier to read from across a room, which is often exactly how Home Assistant dashboards are used.
Inkplate 6COLOR: best for dashboards that benefit from color
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Most e-paper dashboards are black and white, which works perfectly for many projects. But there are situations where color can make information easier to understand at a glance.
For example:
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Green for normal operation
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Yellow for warnings
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Red for alerts
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Blue for weather information
The Inkplate 6COLOR allows you to add these visual cues without sacrificing the low-power advantages of e-paper.
I particularly like this display for weather dashboards, family information boards, and energy monitoring projects where color can help highlight important changes.
Inkplate 6FLICK: best for room-specific dashboards
Product highlight:
Sometimes a large dashboard is overkill.
Maybe you only want to know the temperature in a room. Maybe you want to display whether a meeting room is occupied. Or perhaps you want a small panel beside your front door showing the weather and upcoming calendar events.
This is where a smaller display often makes more sense.
The Inkplate 6FLICK is ideal for focused dashboards that display a handful of important metrics rather than acting as a central control panel.
Some popular ideas include:
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Room status displays
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Air quality monitors
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Smart office dashboards
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Meeting room availability panels
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Home Assistant notification boards
Which Inkplate should you choose?
If you're building a dashboard that will become the information hub of your home, I'd start with the Inkplate 10.
If visual cues and colorful information matter most, the Inkplate 6COLOR is an excellent choice.
And if your goal is a compact dashboard focused on a specific room or purpose, the Inkplate 6FLICK is often the better fit.
The nice thing about Home Assistant is that there isn't a single correct dashboard design. The best display is simply the one that presents the right information in the right place, and e-paper gives you a surprisingly flexible way to do exactly that.
Designing a Home Assistant dashboard for e-paper
Designing a dashboard for an e-paper display requires a slightly different mindset than designing one for a tablet or smartphone.
Because e-paper excels at displaying information rather than frequent interactions, the goal should be to create a dashboard that can be understood in a matter of seconds. Instead of trying to display every available sensor and automation, focus on the information you'll actually use throughout the day.
Focus on glanceable information
One of the biggest strengths of e-paper is that it can act like a digital notice board.
When someone looks at the display, they should immediately understand what they're seeing without needing to scroll, tap, or navigate through menus.
Good examples include:
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Current weather conditions
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Upcoming calendar events
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Energy consumption
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Room temperatures
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Smart home alerts
Avoid excessive updates
Unlike LCD or OLED screens, e-paper isn't designed for constantly changing information.
While modern e-paper displays refresh faster than older generations, they still work best when displaying data that updates periodically rather than every few seconds. Weather forecasts, energy usage summaries, and smart home status information are often a better fit than live camera feeds or rapidly changing graphs.
Prioritize readability
A good e-paper dashboard should be easy to read from across the room.
Large text, clear spacing, and a simple visual hierarchy often produce better results than complex layouts packed with widgets. If a dashboard requires users to stand directly in front of it to understand the information, it's probably displaying too much.
Why Soldered displays are ideal for Home Assistant dashboards
One of the best things about Home Assistant is that it allows you to build a smart home that's tailored to your needs. The same philosophy applies to the displays you use to visualize that information.
At Soldered, we've designed the Inkplate family to give makers multiple ways to create dedicated Home Assistant dashboards. Whether you're building a large household command center with the Inkplate 10, a colorful weather and calendar display with the Inkplate 6 Color, or a compact room status panel using the Inkplate 6 Flick, there's an e-paper display suited to the job.
Because e-paper technology consumes very little power and remains visible around the clock, Inkplate displays are a natural fit for always-on dashboards that show weather forecasts, smart home status updates, energy consumption, calendar events, and other information you check throughout the day.
Combined with detailed documentation, free technical support from engineers, and seamless integration possibilities with Home Assistant projects, Soldered makes it easy to turn smart home data into useful, glanceable information that stays visible 24/7.
Home Assistant e-paper displays: FAQs
Can you use an e-paper display with Home Assistant?
Yes. E-paper displays can be connected to Home Assistant using ESPHome, MQTT, APIs, or custom integrations. They are commonly used to display weather information, calendar events, sensor readings, and smart home status updates.
Why use an e-paper display for Home Assistant?
E-paper displays consume very little power, remain readable without a backlight, and are ideal for dashboards that need to stay visible all day. They work particularly well for information that updates periodically rather than continuously.
What is the best e-paper display for a Home Assistant dashboard?
The best display depends on your project. Larger displays such as the Inkplate 10 are excellent for central household dashboards, while smaller options such as the Inkplate 6 Flick are better suited for room-specific displays and status panels.
Can Home Assistant update an e-paper display automatically?
Yes. Home Assistant can automatically refresh e-paper displays whenever sensor values change, according to a schedule, or when specific automations are triggered.
Are e-paper displays better than tablets for Home Assistant?
For always-on information displays, many users prefer e-paper because of its low power consumption and excellent readability. Tablets remain a
Do e-paper Home Assistant dashboards consume power continuously?
No. E-paper displays primarily consume power when refreshing the screen. Once content is displayed, it remains visible without requiring constant power, making e-paper one of the most energy-efficient display technologies available.
Can I use ESPHome with an e-paper Home Assistant display?
Yes. ESPHome is one of the most popular ways to connect e-paper displays to Home Assistant. It simplifies configuration and makes it easy to display sensor data, weather information, and automation status updates.
